


Hues of Opal

by Ellimac



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gem Fusion, Gen, aromantic Amethyst, implied Pearl/Rose, quoiromantic Pearl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-13
Updated: 2015-07-13
Packaged: 2018-04-09 03:14:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4331652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellimac/pseuds/Ellimac
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amethyst and Pearl fuse for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hues of Opal

“Hey, Pearl?”

“Hmm? What is it, Amethyst?”

“Can we fuse?”

Pearl blinked and twisted around to look at Amethyst, perched on the rock behind her. “You and me? Why?”

Amethyst settled onto her belly, her chin in her hands. “I dunno. Ruby and Sapphire do it all the time, and Rose told me it’s because they’re in love. I kinda wanna see what the big deal is.”

Pearl hesitated. “Fusion, you mean? Or being in love?”

“Both, I guess.” Amethyst rolled over, looking at Pearl upside-down.

“Well…” It was easy to forget how young and inexperienced Amethyst really was. She knew the basics of being a gem, that was true, but when it came to how other gems related to one another, she was clueless. “You know that fusions and love aren’t inherently connected, right?”

Amethyst kicked her feet. “How come?”

Pearl thought about that. There were a lot of ways she could answer. She could describe the many times she had fused with Rose Quartz, and how even as Rainbow Quartz she couldn’t say whether any particular surge of attraction was romantic or not; she could talk about the times during the war that Ruby and Sapphire fused for reasons that had nothing to do with love; she could explain that fusing with Garnet meant little to Ruby and Sapphire’s relationship, and possibly even less to Pearl and Garnet’s. But all those seemed tedious to explain, now, and Amethyst was waiting for an answer.

“When gems fuse,” she decided, “each gem makes up a component part of the fusion. If it’s not in any gem involved, it’s not part of the fusion. So if they’re not in love before they fuse, they won’t be in love afterward, either.”

“Oh.” Amethyst considered this. “Well… aren’t _you_ in love with anyone?”

Pearl blushed. “Well—I—”

“I’ve seen the way you look at Rose,” Amethyst teased. “You’ve gotta be in love with her, right?”

“Um,” Pearl squeaked. “I… I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Amethyst sat up, facing Pearl. “What do you mean?”

“Well… I _love_ her,” Pearl allowed. “But I don’t know if I’m _in_ love. I don’t know what it feels like.”

“Don’t you find out when you fuse with her?”

“Don’t be silly. A fusion can’t be in love with herself.”

“Well, Ruby or Sapphire, then. They’re sure in love with each other.”

Pearl sighed. “It’s difficult to explain, Amethyst. Especially to someone who’s never fused. A fusion is not just two gems inhabiting one body. It’s a lot more complicated than that.”

Amethyst stared at her. “Well, then… fuse with me,” she said, as if it were obvious. And really, it was. Pearl only hesitated the barest second before nodding.

“You’ll have to get off that rock,” she said, but Amethyst was already sliding down, eager to fuse.

“Now, since you’ve never fused, you might not get it right the first time,” Pearl said.

Amethyst rolled her eyes. “I think I know what I’m doing. Come on.”

“Well… all right.”

They stood apart, and their gems began to glow. It was easy to see that Amethyst had a knack for this; her movements were fluid, if a bit lacking in structure, and the connection between them was strong. When Pearl spun, despite the difference in their height, Amethyst was there to dip her—and then all that was left was to let the light of their bodies mingle, and allow a new gem to be born from it.

Opal opened her eyes.

 _We’re tall_ , was her first thought. Her second was, _Taller than Garnet_.

But of course she was taller than Garnet; Amethyst and Pearl were taller than Ruby and Sapphire.

She examined her hands—all four of them. She felt strong; she could fight, if she had to. But she didn’t have to, which was good, because right now she’d rather just revel in being herself. It was wonderful to just _be_. She wrapped her arms tight around herself and smiled.

Pearl had said that it was impossible for a fusion to be in love with herself, and that was true, sort of. Opal loved herself, presumably in the same way that Garnet loved herself; she was made of something wonderful, and she could hardly help loving _being_ that. She couldn’t be in love with herself the way Ruby was in love with Sapphire, or Pearl in love with Rose—

But that thought brought her up short. How _was_ Pearl in love with Rose? Not the way that Opal felt right now, certainly, but as she tried to think about it and define it for herself, it just seemed to get hazier and hazier.

Opal sat against a rock, putting two of her hands on the ground and two around her knees. The ocean sparkled in the distance, and clouds drifted by overhead. Neither held any answers for her. The very idea of being in love was simply baffling. She thought of Rose, but what Pearl felt for Rose was only a small part of Opal, and what Opal felt for Rose was even more complicated than Pearl’s own feelings. There was love, yes, but what _sort_ of love was left entirely up to question.

Opal sighed and looked toward the clouds. A few seagulls flew by. “Being a gem is complicated,” she said out loud.

“Tell me about it,” she answered herself, and then giggled.

The part of her that was Pearl said, _Do you want to unfuse_?

The part of her that was Amethyst said, _No. I like being Opal. She’s got this love thing figured out._

And it was true, in a way. Opal didn’t know what she felt for Rose—or for Garnet, for that matter—but she was completely at peace with that fact. It seemed so irrelevant. Who cared _how_ she loved her teammates, so long as she _did_? It was a steadying thought. Perhaps when she unfused, Amethyst and Pearl would be able to hang onto it.

She got to her feet and stretched. Then she grinned at the sky and took off running across the beach. Later, she could go and find Garnet and Rose, and introduce herself—but for now, she had the beach to herself, and a brand new body to test out.

As it happened, though, she didn’t get the chance to meet her teammates that time. They were nowhere to be found on the beach; Garnet, Opal remembered, was off on a mission, and Rose was probably in her room. By the time the sun was setting, she was starting to feel a little strained; holding herself together was becoming tiring. It made sense, of course. It being Amethyst’s first time fusing, it was really quite something that she’d lasted this long.

Unfusing was peaceful, and left them both on their feet, though Amethyst fell over immediately, grinning at the sky. Pearl leaned against the side of the cliff.

“That was… certainly something,” she said.

“Are you kidding?” Amethyst sat up. “That was _great_. Wow. She’s so… tall.”

Pearl smiled. “She is, isn’t she? Fusions are bigger than their component gems, of course.”

“And she’s really… wow,” Amethyst continued, as if she hadn’t heard her. She stared into space over Pearl’s shoulder. “I should fuse more often. She knows a lot.”

“She only knows what you and I know,” Pearl said, brushing an imaginary speck of sand off her arm.

“Yeah, but she’s _smart_. You know? What she was thinking about love and stuff?”

Pearl hesitated. Of course she remembered that, but it made a lot more sense as Opal than it did as Pearl. Opal didn’t know quite what love felt like, or was supposed to feel like, either—but her cavalier attitude about it must come from Amethyst. As Pearl, what kind of love she felt for her teammates felt—well, important.

Amethyst’s gaze shifted to Pearl. “Hey. Do you have a crush on Garnet?”

Pearl blushed. “Of course not!”

“All right, chill. I was just asking because it kinda felt like Opal feels the same way about both of them. Garnet and Rose.” She paused. “Ruby and Sapphire too, I guess.”

“Well… a fusion’s preferences may not have much to do with an individual gem’s.” Pearl was still blushing. “Anyway, I told you, I don’t know—”

“Yeah, yeah, you don’t know how you feel about Rose.” Amethyst stood up. “But it doesn’t matter, right? You love her. You love Garnet. You love me.” She hesitated again, and when she spoke, she sounded more vulnerable than Pearl had ever heard her. “You do love me, right?”

“Oh, Amethyst—” Pearl dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around the smaller gem. “Of _course_ I love you.”

Amethyst returned the embrace, relief radiating from her. “We should do that again sometime.”

“Form Opal?” Pearl closed her eyes and remembered the excitement of simply _being_ , tempered only slightly by the quiet assurance Opal seemed to have about almost everything. She remembered especially the calm that Opal felt in regards to love, and briefly felt that same calm settle into her own heart. “Yes. Yes, we certainly should.”


End file.
